What are the best offensive and defensive lineup combinations Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch has tried through four games this season? This is borderline silly to be breaking down just four games into the season because the sample sizes are literally just minutes on the floor together, but let’s have a look anyway.
The starters have not been elite
- D’Angelo Russell
- Anthony Edwards
- Jaden McDaniels
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Rudy Gobert
A 100.7 offensive rating and a 105.1 defensive rating gives them a net rating of -4.4 when they’ve been on the floor together in 64 minutes of action this season.
This emphasizes how awful they’ve played in third quarters because they have been a dominant unit in the first quarter in three of four games.
Ant and the bench
- Jordan McLaughlin
- Jaylen Nowell
- Anthony Edwards
- Taurean Prince
- Naz Reid
A stunning 160.7 offensive rating and 96.6 defensive rating give this group a net rating of +64.2 in 13 minutes together. This is the group that gave Minnesota a chance in the Utah game and that shredded the Thunder in the fourth quarter on Sunday night
J-Mac and the starters
- Jordan McLaughlin
- Anthony Edwards
- Jaden McDaniels
- Karl-Anthony Towns
- Rudy Gobert
It’s four of the five starters minus Russell, and this group has a +13.3 net rating in seven minutes together. That’s a 113.3 offensive rating and 100.0 defensive rating.
Jaylen Nowell with anyone and everyone
This speaks volumes to how well the Wolves have played with Nowell on the floor this season. Look at the offense/defensive ratings for lineup combinations involving Nowell.
- Nowell w/McLaughlin, Edwards, Prince, Reid: 160.7/96.6 (13 minutes)
- Nowell w/Russell, Edwards, Towns, Gobert: 175.0/44.4 (5 minutes)
- Nowell w/McLaughlin, Edwards, Prince, Towns: 122.2/55.6 (4 minutes)
- Nowell w/McLaughlin, Edwards, Prince, Gobert: 109.1/109.1 (4 minutes)
- Nowell w/McLaughlin, McDaniels, Prince, Towns: 171.4/71.4 (3 minutes)
It’s only a five-minute sample size, but the three-guard lineup with Nowell, Russell and Edwards paired with Towns and Gobert has been lethal with a +131 net rating. That’s insanity. There’s no way that would last in the long haul, but it’s a lineup combo worth rolling out more often based on how it’s worked early on.
The ugly outlier of the most common lineups involving Nowell is nearly identical to that elite combination we just mentioned. The only difference is McDaniels in place of Gobert. That unit featuring Nowell, Russell, Edwards, McDaniels and Towns has a net rating of -30.1 in four minutes together (114.3 offensive rating, 144.4 defensive rating).
Anyway. It’s food for thought and that’s about it right now.
